Beginnings
by Destiny Bunny
Summary: [pre-slash] Part 1 in the Troubled Times story arc.


Title: Beginnings  
  
Author: Destiny Bunny  
  
Spoilers: Well, I'm not too sure at the moment.This is set in the MWPP era so it shouldn't be too bad. There won't be any major plot spoilers in this but there could be some minor ones. I can't think of any right now but you can't be too careful, ne?  
  
Summary: MWPP's first year at Hogwarts mainly from Remus' POV.  
  
Pairings: Remus/Sirius pre-slash. Maybe some pre- James and Lily  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own, except in the deepest and most sordid recesses of my troubled mind.  
  
Dedications: To the real world. May you some day learn to emulate even the smallest of our fantasies.  
  
Apologies: To JKR for butchering her carefully constructed world, and not having the decency to do it in an original way. And to readers, who must be wishing by now that I would just get on with it.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
10 year old Remus Lupin gazed apprehensively at the other people at the station. Surrounding him, were hundreds of excited teenagers, laughing and joking, catching up with their friends and saying goodbye to their parents. Almost without thinking about it, he tightened the grip on his mother's hand, seeking comfort in the familiar feel of her skin against his own.  
  
"Its ok honey," Sylvia Lupin tried to reassure her son, her voice cheery and bright, only her eyes giving away the concern she felt. She knew this was going to be hard on him. Ever since that fateful summer seven years ago Remus had had little contact with the outside world. He had been home schooled by his mother, and he didn't know any of the other children in his neighbourhood. Remus had always been a shy child, but since the accident, he had been especially wary of other people. And the rest of these children were all at least one year older than he was, even those in his own class. Sylvia crouched down in front of her son and gripped his shoulders gently but firmly. His face was a stoic image of determination. He would see this through, however difficult it seemed. His soulful amber eyes looked deep into his mother's brown ones, silently pleading with her not to let go. Finally, he turned to leave, barely choking out the word "goodbye" from beneath the suppressed emotion, and dragged his heavy trunk onto the train.  
  
As the train started moving, Remus moved down through the long corridor, searching for a place to sit. All the carriages he saw seemed to be full of loud, excited people. He passed these by, heading towards the back of the train where he hoped there would be an empty compartment he could settle into. Finally, a wave of despair washed over Remus as he reached the last compartment, realising he was not going to find the solitude he so desperately craved. However, there were only two people in this compartment, sitting across from each other and seemingly talking quietly. Steeling himself, Remus pushed the door open and shuffled inside.  
  
"Er." he began, eyeing the two boys shyly. One of them was of medium height, with scruffy black hair and glasses. The other was tall, although this was not apparent until he stood, with longish silky black hair and a majestic air about him. The two boys turned to Remus, waiting for him to continue. 'Oh Gods!' Remus thought suddenly, 'What the hell am I going to do now?!' But he was saved from further discomfort by the tall elegant boy, who had stood up and was introducing himself as Sirius black and the bespectacled boy as James Potter.  
  
"I- I'm Remus Lupin," Remus finally forced out, before blushing furiously and returning his gaze to the floor.  
  
"Well, c'mon then Remus," Sirius told him gently, "you can sit here with us." Remus allowed himself to be guided to the vacant seat next to Sirius' by the taller boy and gazed nervously out of the window at the passing scenery. James and Sirius went back to excitedly discussing, well, everything. During a lull in the conversation, the boys fell to studying Remus avidly. Remus blushed and concentrated extra hard on the scenes flitting past the train window.  
  
"Doesn't talk much, does he?" James remarked, smirking slightly.  
  
"He's just shy is all," Sirius replied as a gleam came into the handsome boy's face. "Oh, can we keep him, James? Can we?" he asked excitedly, beaming at the thought.  
  
"I suppose so," James replied, sighing as he spoke. The moment passed as swiftly as it had come and the black haired friends went back to their usual banter.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next thing Remus knew, he was being shaken gently awake by Sirius:  
  
"C'mon Remus, we have to get off the train now. It's a good thing you'd changed into your robes already." Remus shuffled out of the train distractedly and followed Sirius and James, who had been waiting outside, into a small boat. Remus kept his eyes firmly on his shoes for the duration of the boat ride. He had never been in a boat before, but he had already decided that he didn't like it. His normally pale face was a chalky white, his body tense as if ready to flee.  
  
Finally, it was over and he was being steered out of the boat and up to the main doors of the school by Sirius. It was only now that Remus allowed himself to actually look at the castle. It stood towering above him, a dark, imposing mass of grey, dotted with the yellow of candlelight in windows.  
  
The tall oak doors swung inwards at this moment, startling him out of his reverie. A stern looking witch with dark green robes and hair in a severe bun was standing in the entrance, talking to them. She was saying something about a feast and 'sorting', whatever that was, but Remus was hardly listening. He found himself led in a half daze through two large sets of double doors, and into the Great Hall, which was full of people.  
  
The line of first years walked down the middle of the hall between four long tables of students and stopped in front of a which ran along the front of the hall on a raised platform, facing the rest of the tables. The witch in green then retrieved a short stool and a battered old hat from somewhere and placed them on the front of the platform. All eyes turned to the hat as a rip opened near the base of it and, much to the surprise of the first years, it began to sing. Remus didn't listen to the song all that much, as he was at that moment concentrating on merely remaining as calm and emotionless as possible. He watched in silence as one by one, the first year students sat on the stool and wore the hat. Each time, the hat would shout out the name of one of the four houses and the student would go and sit at the corresponding table. Finally, it was Remus' turn to be sorted. He glanced wearily at the hat before placing it on his head and waited.  
  
"Ah, what have we here?" a quiet voice in his head remarked. "A younger one eh? You're bright, no doubt about that, and yet painfully shy. Brave though, considering what you have to go through. Yes, I think I have a place for you. GRYFFINDOR!!!" As the hat shouted out this last word, Remus walked over to a table seating several students wearing various red and gold accessories, ands took a seat next to Sirius. They both turned to watch as James Potter was also sorted into Gryffindor, and went to sit opposite Sirius. The Headmaster stood to make the beginning of term announcements and then the feast began.  
  
Remus sat eyeing the cutlery suspiciously. He had a strong impression that it was made of silver. Just then, a hand was on his shoulder and he peered up to see the face of the stern which in green looking down at him.  
  
"Mr. Lupin, I believe the Headmaster would like to speak to you now," she told him. Remus nodded dumbly and stood up, allowing himself to be steered out of the great hall and into a smaller adjoining room.  
  
"Ah, Mr. Lupin," The Headmaster's voice rang through the room. Remus walked towards him, where he was stood in front of the fireplace. "I would just like to take this opportunity to assure you that all the necessary requirements are now in place. On the night of the full moon, you will proceed to the hospital wing. From there, Madame Pomfrey will escort you through the Whomping Willow passage to the shack. She will then collect you from there in the morning and take you back to the hospital wing. You may take as long as you need there to rest before coming back to classes." Dumbledore smiled warmly at Remus, trying to reassure him. "Of course, it will be important that you do not tell anyone where you are going or why." Remus nodded to show that he understood. He had already come across the prejudice that he would encounter if people found out about him and he didn't want to encourage that.  
  
"What if they find out?" he asked. "O- on their own?" Dumbledore sighed softly at this question.  
  
"Well Remus, in my opinion, the truth is always the best option. But you must decide what to do for yourself." Dumbledore replied. "Now I am sure you will want to return to the feast. And do not worry about the cutlery, it has been shielded so as not to cause you any discomfort."  
  
"I- I'm not really hungry." Remus muttered, staring at his shoes.  
  
"Well in that case, Professor McGonagall here will show you the way up to your dormitory, and we will see you in the morning. You will fin that your luggage has already been taken up for you." Dumbledore smiled at Remus and then swept back into the Great Hall to retake his position at the head table.  
  
Remus followed the stern witch called McGonagall through passageways and corridors and up staircases, past numerous paintings whose inhabitants whispered to each other as he passed and suits of armour which had a somewhat menacing look to them. Finally, they stopped at the top of a staircase in front of a painting of a large lady in a pink silk dress. McGonagall gave the password ('caput draconis') and the portrait swung forwards to reveal a round hole in the wall.  
  
"This is the Gryffindor common room, Mr. Lupin," she told him. "The boys' dormitories are up the stairs on the right hand side. Just go up until you see a door marked 'First Years'. Goodnight." And with that she swept off back the way she had come.  
  
Remus stepped inside and gazed around at his new surroundings. He was in a large room decorated in deep red and gold, filled with tables and plush chairs, and a fireplace blazing in the wall opposite the door. He turned to the right and proceeded up the staircase until he reached the room, at the very top. There was a sign on the door reading 'First Years'. Pushing the door open, he immediately found that his trunk had been placed at the foot of the bed nearest the window. Grateful for some peace and quiet at last, Remus changed into his pyjamas, crawled into bed and fell asleep before he even had time to draw the curtains. 


End file.
